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OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- Northern California residents, who had spent days at evacuation shelters, were allowed to return to their homes but many stayed only long enough to pack valuables before fleeing an approaching storm that will test recently repaired spillways at the nation&apos;s tallest dam. Authorities say the immediate danger has passed for the nearly 200,000 people living downstream of the Oroville Dam. They said the Lake Oroville water level was 26 feet below the emergenc...

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration asked the founder of a New York-based private equity firm to lead a review of the intelligence community as President Donald Trump vows to crack down on what he describes as &quot;illegal leaks&quot; of classified information....

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(MUNICH) — Russia wants pragmatic relations with the United States but also is hoping for the creation of a "post-West world order," the country's foreign minister said Saturday, dismissing the NATO military alliance as a relic of the Cold War.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's comments at the Munich Security Conference came hours after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the gathering that the U.S. will "hold Russia accountable" even as the Trump administration searches for common ground with Moscow.

The annual get-together of diplomats and defense officials has been marked by Western concerns about President Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy and attitude toward Russia.

"What kind of relations do we want with the U.S.? Pragmatic relations, mutual respect, understanding our special responsibility for global stability," Lavrov said.

"We have immense potential that has yet to be tapped into, and we're open for that, inasmuch as the U.S. is open for that as well," he added.

At the forum, both Pence and U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis tried to walk-back earlier remarks from Trump that NATO as an alliance was "obsolete," emphasizing the U.S. support for it and its continued importance.

Lavrov, however, echoed the characterization of NATO as obsolete, declaring to the conference that the military alliance "remained a Cold War institution."

"Responsible leaders should make a choice, I hope that the choice will be done in favor a creating a democratic and just world order," Lavrov said, speaking through an interpreter.

"If you want, you can call it a 'post-West world order,' when each country, based on its sovereignty within the rules of international law, will strive to find a balance between its own national interests and the national interests of partners."

Following Lavrov's comments, and a bilateral meeting with the Russian envoy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Associated Press that Moscow's criticism of NATO was well known. He said that criticism has increased as the alliance has gone ahead with positioning battlegroups in the Baltics and Poland as a deterrence to a "more assertive Russia."

"We don't want to provoke a conflict. We want to prevent conflict and preserve the peace," Stoltenberg said. "Our aim is not to isolate Russia. We don't want a new Cold War, we don't want a new arms race, what we do is measured and defensive."

He rejected the notion that NATO's purpose had vanished with the fall of the Iron Curtain, noting the alliance's important missions in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and in the fight against terrorism and piracy.

"NATO is an alliance for the 21st century. We are an alliance for today and tomorrow because we have the unique ability to change and adapt when the world is changing," he said.

This story has been updated with responses from the CIA and the White House.

CBS News has learned that on Thursday, an angry President Trump called CIA Director Mike Pompeo and yelled at him for not pushing back hard enough against reports that the intelligence community was withholding information from the commander-in-chief.

The agency then drafted a strongly worded statement rebutting the claim. “We are not aware of any instance when that has occurred,” read Pompeo’s statement. “It is CIA’s mission to provide the President with the best intelligence possible and to explain the basis for that intelligence. The CIA does not, has not, and will never hide intelligence from the President, period.”

The White House also denied the report. The president “did not yell at the CIA director,” a White House spokesperson wrote Saturday in an email to CBS News.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal had reported that U.S. intelligence officials have kept information from Mr. Trump because they feared it could be leaked or compromised.

CIA spokesman Dean Boyd denied Friday that there was a conversation between Pompeo and Mr. Trump about the article.

“There was no conversation between the CIA Director and the President about the Wall Street Journal article either before or after CIA issued its statement about the article,” Boyd said. “The CIA issued its statement on its own accord because the story was inaccurate and we felt the need to defend the integrity of our officers and institution.”

The reality is, insiders say, that there has been a “chill” in the information flow. Intelligence sources say the agency is intent on protecting information, and if there are concerns it could be compromised, it will be withheld.

The ongoing investigation into whether Trump associates coordinated with the Russians remains a concern for some who handle sensitive data. It can be inferred that there is a lack of trust, and because the CIA has had a role in uncovering signs of Russian cyber intrusions, there are also concerns that sensitive information could be shared with adversaries.

CIA director Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the agency is providing President Donald Trump with the best intelligence it can, disputing reports that the spy community is withholding information from the commander in chief.

"The CIA does not, has not, and will never hide intelligence from the president, period. We are not aware of any instance when that has occurred," Pompeo said in a statement aimed at quelling reports that the intelligence community and Trump were in conflict.

He said news reports that the agency was keeping intelligence from the president are "dead wrong" and damage the "the integrity of thousands of professional intelligence officers."

Pompeo's statement came on the same day that a senior White House official said the administration had asked a New York-based private equity executive — Stephen Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management — to lead a review of the U.S. intelligence community.

Feinberg has been asked to make recommendations on improvements to efficiency and coordination between the various intelligence agencies, the official said. His position was not to become official until he completed an ethics review, said the official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

However, Trump later appeared to back off the idea, saying somebody else might not be needed because it could be handled by Pompeo, FBI Director James Comey and Dan Coats, the president's nominee to be director of national intelligence who has not yet been confirmed.

"They're in position so I hope that we'll be able to straighten that out without using anybody else," Trump said at a news conference.

He said Feinberg was a "very talented man, very successful man" who has offered his services to the administration. "You know, it's something we may take advantage of. But I don't think we're (going to) need that at all because of the fact that you know, I think that we are gonna be able to straighten it out very easily on its own."

The news that Feinberg was being tapped to do an intelligence review drew complaints from Democrats.

Feinberg was among the economic advisers for Trump's presidential campaign. Cerberus Capital Management, a firm with $30 billion in investments, is deeply rooted in the Republican establishment. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is the firm's head of global investment, and former Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, who served under President George W. Bush, is the firm's chairman.

"While we must always be open to improving organization and coordination among intelligence agencies, taken in concert with the large number of troubling statements President Trump has made denigrating our nation's intelligence professionals, I am extremely concerned that this appointment signals a desire by the administration to marginalize the role of the DNI or even take unprecedented steps to politicize intelligence operations," said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee.

The DNI is the director of national intelligence.

Many intelligence professionals also viewed the White House review as another slight by the Trump White House, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence officer who spoke only on condition of anonymity out of concern for putting former colleagues at risk. They already are worried about politicization of the intelligence product and fear this could be a way to hinder their ability to provide information that might contradict the White House's political views, the official said.

Mike Hayden, former director of both the CIA and the National Security Agency, said the White House can review inefficiencies within the intelligence community but should not attempt to exert control over the agencies. Hayden said in an interview that the proposed White House review of the 17 intelligence agencies could be an unsettling development for Coats.

Some current and former administration officials have raised concern over the extent to which Trump has empowered members of his inner circle on matters that are typically left to the intelligence agencies.

The newly established Strategic Initiatives Group, headed by White House strategist Steve Bannon, includes a unit charged with counterterrorism intelligence, current and former senior officials say. The unit is headed by White House aide and former national security analyst Sebastian Gorka, who doesn't have appropriate clearance, they said — something the officials expressed concern about given the sensitive mandate of the unit.

However, Pompeo had been actively briefing the president every day he can and the president is settling into a traditional process of receiving his daily intelligence brief and talking to intelligence advisers, said an intelligence official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration asked the founder of a New York-based private equity firm to lead a review of the intelligence community as President Donald Trump ... | Life near Oroville Dam now shadowed by fears and concerns | Russia Says It Wants a 'Post-West World Order' - TIME | Op-Ed Columnist: Donald Trump Will Leave You Numb - by FRANK BRUNI - NYT | » Mike Nova's Shared NewsLinks: Kim Jong-nam murder: Malaysia hunts for four North Korean suspects 19/02/17 05:27 » Mike Nova's Shared NewsLinks: German defense chief hits Trump attitudes on torture, Russia and Muslims 17/02/17 15:08

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OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- Northern California residents, who had spent days at evacuation shelters, were allowed to return to their homes but many stayed only long enough to pack valuables before fleeing an approaching storm that will test recently repaired spillways at the nation&apos;s tallest dam. Authorities say the immediate danger has passed for the nearly 200,000 people living downstream of the Oroville Dam. They said the Lake Oroville water level was 26 feet below the emergenc...

(MUNICH) — Russia wants pragmatic relations with the United States but also is hoping for the creation of a "post-West world order," the country's foreign minister said Saturday, dismissing the NATO military alliance as a relic of the Cold War.

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The statistical effects of the October 28 Letter | Federal Bureau of Investigation - NYT

"Many good questions could and should al-zo be asked when Mr. Comey testifies in the closed session of the House Intelligence Committee next week... Comey's overall "motivations" might be complex and and at the same time simple: the security of the country. The details of these complexities are not easy to read..." - by Michael Novakhov - 4.25.17

Gangs, Intelligence Services, and Politics

M.N.: It would be unforgivably naive to suppose that the U.S. criminal Underworld is not controlled these days by the Russian Mafia, and, in turn, by the Russian Intelligence Services. It would also be unforgivably naive to suppose that there are no messages contained in the various criminal acts, and that there are no connections between the Underworld's recent operations and the present situation in the U.S., including the present investigations. As a matter of facts and the investigative leads, they might hold and provide the most easily accessible clues. Attention, the FBI and the significant others: do access these clues.

Smoke and Fire: The Trumputkins, the Trumpumpkins, "The Tillerson Ultimatum", and bad, bad Assad

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"Trumpism" as the "social-political experiment" and the "Gang of Four"

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"Lavrov won't dance with me..."

Lavrov's Response:

"My mama done tol' me... A man's a two-face..."

Vovchick "The Tarantula", why were you so "loud"?!

For Russia (or any other state), this extraordinary, unusual, demonstrative, primitive, blatant "loudness" was like digging her own grave with regard to the US - Russian relations, especially at the time when their improvement and the relief of sanctions is so desired by them, and no doubts, they would understand this very well. This peculiarity in this affair points to the possible deliberate set-up from the third party... The US - Russia - Germany triangle and the role of the revived German intelligence in it after the WW2 have to be examined under the most powerful microscope, in all their hidden details, and in the historical perspective.

Mike Nova's Shared NewsLinks Review

Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks

Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks

Howl!

The America of my dreams: Shattered. Raped.

The King Trump - by Michael Novakhov

The public prayers for His Majesty's health, wealth, and well-being, and also for the development of his additional intellectual capacities should be held no less than three times a day in all public squares, government offices, courthouses, and the places of worship, and also in all the private and public toilets, with the benefit of generating the taxable and multiple extra-flushes. Hopefully, it will flush out in due time.

The Information Age

All the relevant information at your fingertips: Information is not a commodity for sale but one of the most vital and important inalienable rights. To paraphrase Descartes: "I have access to information therefore I am". ("Information Age" - post of 11.30-21.13 | Image from: Information - Google Images)